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But this will be the report that could lead to demands for big changes at the IRS.

“The findings of this report could very well become the basis of reform legislation in Congress,” said Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union.

George is one of those Washingtonians who has an acronym for his employer: TIGTA. (It stands for Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.) He isn’t used to the spotlight — his more typical reports are page-turners like “Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Internal Revenue Service for Fiscal Year 2013.”

But the Bush appointee, who has been doing his job since 2004 and previously served as the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service, has a chance to set an example for the work all agency watchdogs are supposed to do — uncovering problems that have a big political impact and get the attention of the public.

Inspectors general tend to vary in the quality of their work and the amount of impact their reports have — which has as much to do with the attention span of Congress as it does with their own duties. But Ellis says his group relies heavily on George’s work. It’s been solid, he says, though not high-profile enough to put George in the top tier of inspectors general — until now.

“We see him as a straight shooter, which is what we want,” said Ellis.

5. The Cincinnati office

The staff at the Cincinnati field office is taking the brunt of the blame for targeting conservative groups by choosing to flag “tea party” and “patriots” in applications for nonprofit status. They are squarely in the middle of the fray because the IRS centralizes much of its review of these groups in the Midwest.

The IRS advises nonprofit groups to contact staffers in Cincinnati for a wide range of questions on everything from compliance to figuring out who qualifies for the exempt status.

The IRS is a notoriously opaque organization and many of their field employees work well outside of the spotlight. The biggest clues into how the auditors made their choices come from the agency’s official review and goals for the year.

From 2009 to 2011, the IRS conducted just over 500 reviews of nonprofit organizations each year. In 2011, the Exempt Organizations Division released a work plan for the following year. The main goal for improving compliance among 501(c)(4) groups was a comprehensive review to makes sure organizations were qualified for the tax break.

“[The division] will review organizations to ensure that they have classified themselves correctly and that they are complying with applicable rules,” according to a 2011 report. “In FY 2012, EO will send a comprehensive questionnaire to organizations based on Form 990 filings to assess compliance in this area.”

They also listed several goals for examining political activity.

“As in the past, information from outside sources about political campaign intervention will be reviewed by a committee of career civil servants,” the report reads. “The committee will focus on identifying the cases to refer for examination. EO will further refine its risk models based on the results of examinations.”